THE GODFATHER RETURNS

by Mark Winegardner

1-4000-6101-6

431pp/$26.95/November 2004

Even before you open the book, the stark red, white and
black cover sparks the strains of Nino Rota's "The Godfather
Waltz" begin playing in your mind. Mark Winegardner has been
granted to task of writing a sequel to Mario Puzo's essential 1969 novel The
Godfather, a novel which not only must pick up the story of that book,
but must also fit the characters and situations Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola,
Al Pacino, and others traced through three epic films. The result in The
Godfather Returns.

Perhaps most of Winegardner's readers will be more
familiar with the films than with the novel, which followed several
different characters, many of whom, such as Johnny Fontane or Lucy Mancini,
are only peripheral to the films. Winegardner returns to Puzo's novel
to follow several different characters. Taking a technique for the
second film, however, he also moves through time to present Michael
Corleone's story before the first film, between the first two films, and
between the second and third films.

Winegardner's decisions to fill in the blanks between
the films is one of the weaknesses of The Godfather Returns.
The films left out much of the empire building Michael had to do between
them in his attempt to go legitimate. While Winegardner manages to add
interesting layers of intrigue to Michaels' quest, and to the characters who
surround him, the novel really works best when the characters are engaging
in mafioso wheeling and dealing.

One of the strengths of Puzo's work was the characters
he made come to life, and Winegardner does an excellent job not only with
the lives of Puzo's characters, but with his own. Just as Puzo
eventually picked up the story of Santino's son, Vincent, in "The
Godfather, Part III," Winegardner also elects to follow Santino's
offspring, in this case his twin daughters, as they take their first steps
at breaking from the family business. Fredo, a pivotal character in the
first two films, is actually fleshed out in The Godfather Returns, in
which Winegardner adds to the appetites he exhibits in the first films and
gives a deeper look into his need to become his own man and gain his older
brother's approval.

The central character to the novel, however, is Nick
Geraci, a member of the Corleone family who, Winegardner reveals, becomes
the button man who killed Sal Tessio, his mentor. After proving his
loyalty to the Corleones, it is clear that Geraci will eventually turn on
the family as he tries to strike out on his own, setting up an eventual
confrontation with Michael. Although it is clear Michael will be
victorious, the cost of his victory helps build tension.

In many ways, Winegardner manages to recapture the
style and spirit of Puzo's original novel. Nevertheless, there is the
feeling that something is missing from The Godfather Returns.
Winegardner successfully captures every individual aspect of Puzo's work,
whether in the original novel or the films, but there is a magic beneath it
that is missing. Despite missing the Puzo magic, The Godfather
Returns is a welcome reintroduction to the Corleone clan.